Words Are Words
by McMuffinDragon
Summary: Kristopher moves and changes schools, but he stays in touch with his boyfriend. Norway/Iceland


Norway-Kristopher  
Iceland-Reynir  
Denmark-Dan

* * *

_Miss you_.

Kristopher smiled at the text and flicked his phone open to respond.

"I told you; no texting in the car," his mother said. She was a shrewd middle aged woman who tried to pretend she wasn't getting older.

"Why not?" her son responded coolly, after tapping out a quick _Miss you too_ to his boyfriend. He leaned his arm against the door and watched the green hills roll by. A moving truck followed their sedan in his rear view mirror.

"Because," His mother explained, "you'll get motion sickness." In addition, his eyesight would evidently go bad along with a host of other problems Kristopher wasn't listening to. He'd stopped listening to his mother when she had decided to uproot his life for her own selfish reasons.

She'd met some man on the internet; his name was apparently Greg. As a divorced woman whose husband had fallen off the face of the earth, Joann Lind had jumped on the opportunity to move in with this mystery man, even if that meant pulling Kris from the only person who could make him smile.

The exit sign for Bellefonte flew by, and Kristopher finally had a sinking feeling that he was trapped now. The town was fairly nonexistent, and his mother stopped the car in front of a large white house that appeared to have been converted into a duplex.

"Here we are," Joann proclaimed as though Kristopher was brain dead. She was rushing up the porch while her son was getting out of the car. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and took a quick picture of the house. _What'd you think?_ he sent the picture and message to Reynir. Moving men were starting to unload the truck.

"Hey," A voice accompanied by the rhythmic bounce of a basketball approached him. "You new here?" Kristopher glanced over his shoulder; a young man around his own age sidled across the street toward him. His hair looked like he'd stuck a fork in an electrical socket then slathered gel on it.

"No," Kris replied flatly, "I've been here my whole life."

"Huh," the guy responded, rolling the basketball in his hands, "I've ever seen you around before." He balanced the ball on his hip and offered his hand to be shaken. "My name's Dan."

"Kristopher," the shorter of the two said, ignoring the dirty hand. The phone in his pocket vibrated, and he was thankful for a chance to end the conversation. _Looks nice _was Reynir's reply.

"Who ya texting?" Dan asked, trying to peek at the screen. Kris turned away. "Your girlfriend?"

"No," he told the idiot, with a cold look.

"Oh," Dan suddenly seemed much more interested (if that was possible), "So you're available?" Kristopher brought his elbow back sharply into his new acquaintance's stomach. While Dan doubled over and wheezed, Kristopher walked inside, texting _It would be if you were here._

"No, it's nice here," Kristopher said as he stared up at the white ceiling of his new bedroom (though in his opinion, "large closet" was a better term for the space he had been given.) "It's pretty, but I just feel lonely."

"That's no reason to be bitter," Reynir replied on the other end of the line, "I've never known you to be the social type anyway." Kristopher gave a single laugh at the thought.

"Greg tells me there are a bunch of trails around the woods outside town," he rolled onto his side and stared out the window at the lights he now knew as Dan's house. "Maybe I'll go for a hike, take some pictures."

"That sounds like a good idea," Reynir yawned.

"You sound tired," Kristopher murmured. He closed his eyes and could see Reynir sitting in his desk chair with his feet propped up on an open dresser drawer. Papers everywhere, the clutter of an artistic mind. Through the phone, Reynir made a little sound of agreement. "I'll talk to you tomorrow." His boyfriend made another little noise, clearly dozing off. "Love you." Kris got no response but soft breathing in his ear. He lay in bed listening until he fell asleep as well.

"Well, Kristopher," his new psychology teacher informed him as his class made its way to the library, "You're fortunate enough to come at the very end of this term. I'm afraid we're not starting anything new, so I suppose you can relax until next week."

"Thank you, mister Kirkland," Kris nodded, examining the textbook he had been given.

"It's not a problem," The Englishman nodded, "If you'd like, you can join a group and review what we've learned, or you can do whatever you fancy. I'm sure you'd prefer that?" He gave a short, dry laugh. Kristopher kept his face blank and went to sit at one of the computers while Mr. Kirkland addressed the class quickly.

Kristopher opened his email and saw a message from Reynir:

_I got a copy of the Literary magazine today; look what they printed._

Following was a picture of one of Reynir's poems (the print was too small to read, but Kristopher was pretty sure he could remember it) on the other side of the page was a full black and white print of a black and white photo Kris had taken himself. It was of a robin, nestled in a tree branch. He had found the poor thing, stunned, lying on the ground near the tree and had replaced it.

As he sat gazing at the picture, Kris found it a little hard to breath. He cupped his hands around his eyes and stared down at the keyboard, blinking furiously; he swallowed heavily and waited for the bell.

Kristopher sat on his floor amid the boxes that he still hadn't fully unpacked. His cellphone sat on the bed. Reynir's voice came from the speaker.

"So, Tino and Berwald broke up," he informed Kris, who paused in unpacking his books, "He's going out with Ivan now."

"What? Why would he even do that? Ivan treated him like a carpet. A carpet he could have sex with."

"And Tino acted like one, I agree," Reynir agreed quickly, "But that's just the way he is. We can only hope he comes to his senses."

"That's complete nonsense," Kris glanced at the spines of the books in his hands before placing them, alphabetically onto the shelf, "You need to talk to him."

Reynir sighed on the other end of the line, "You're right; I'm just afraid if I try to talk him out of it, Ivan will come after me."

Kris got up and tossed an empty box out into the hall; "That's when you get Berwald to protect you," he said when he came back.

"I really don't think that's possible; he's been a wreck since the break up." Kris made a little sound of sympathy. "He, um," Reynir fell silent.

"He what?" Kristopher asked, sitting on the bed, "You know you can tell me. Who am I going to tell, after all?

"Well, Kris, you-you have to promise you won't get mad."

"When have you ever seen me get mad?" Kristopher picked up the phone and placed it on his bedside table. "What happened?"

Reynir stayed quiet for a moment, probably trying to recall a time when he'd seen Kris angry. "I was at my locker during break," He began slowly, "and Berwald comes up to me and," He breathed deeply, "You know I love you, right?"

"Yes," Kris felt a smile pulling at his lips at his boyfriend's nerves, "and I love you."

"Right," he sighed again, "so Berwald comes up to me, and he asks what I'm doing this weekend." Kris stilled and didn't respond. "Kris? Are you still there?"

"Yeah," he shook his head a little, "What'd you say to him?

"Well, I lied and said I was busy."

Kristopher gave a clearly audible sigh of relief, "Please don't scare me like that again."

"Kris," Reynir said after a moment, "I don't know if I can keep this up."

"You're tired of me?"

"No, Kris, no, I just...I want to see you." Kristopher stared at the ceiling.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow, alright?"

Kristopher opened the door with a stack of mail in his hands. Most of it was addressed to Greg; there were a couple magazines for the mother, and a letter from Reynir. He left the mail on the dining table and took the envelope upstairs.

_Dear Kristopher,_

_My mother suggested I write you an actual letter rather than an email. She says it's comforting to be able to go back and read them in the future. (If you've stumbled upon this note tucked away in a book in the future, then I hope you're happy where ever you ended up.)_

_So anyway, the lilacs outside have started to bloom, and when it's breezy, their scent travels through the whole town. I wonder if you have lilacs in Bellefonte. I'm not exactly sure what to write to you about; I would rather talk to you and hear your voice. This was a nice little experiment, though, right?_

_Love,  
Reynir_

"So what about you?" Reynir asked through the speaker phone. "I tell you so much about what's happening here, and you don't say anything about what life's like there."

"There's not much to say," Kristopher replied, running a duster over his books and desk. "It's pretty dull here."

"Have you met anyone at school?" Reynir sounded both amused and worried, "I can't be the _only_ person you talk to."

"Well," he began, looking out the window at Dan in his front yard, running around with a big dog, "There's this guy who lives across the street; he's a year above me, but I swear he's about as smart as a cinder block.

"Then he must be unbelievably good looking," Reynir laughed, "Otherwise you wouldn't mention him at all."

"He's alright," Kristopher shrugged, "Blond, blue eyes, tall, athletic, and he's just got this _smile_ that-"

"Woah," Reynir cut him off, "You're not looking to just dump me for some pretty face, are you?"

"No, of course not," he replied, turning from the window, "He's not my type, way too annoying."

Kristopher walked home as the buses roared by. The house wasn't too far from school, and the weather was finally starting to turn for the better. Loud music was blasting from a car that had slowed down behind him, almost as though it was following him. Kris didn't turn to look until the car pulled up along side him, and the driver rolled the window down.

"Hey Krissie," Dan called; Kristopher shot a cold glare at him, "Wanna ride?"

"No," The pedestrian answered, looking straight ahead.

"Aw, c'mon," Dan said, clearly ignoring the droves of angry drivers going around him, "We don't have to go straight home. I can take you anywhere you want to go." Kristopher stopped; the car crawled forward another twenty feet. Dan shifted into reverse and pulled backward to where Kris stood.

"Anywhere?" The young man asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Totes," Dan grinned, leaning out the window.

"Take me to Sunbury," Kris stated flatly. He was intent on taking advantage of Dan's foolish offer.

"Sunbury?" The spiky blond repeated, "But that's like," He tapped on the steering wheel, counting how long such a trip would be. Judging from his slightly flustered expression and repeated head shaking, he had to start over more than once. "That's like...six hours away."

"I'll pay for gas," Kristopher offered politely. As much as Dan repulsed him, he needed to cooperate to get back home.

Dan drummed his fingers on the upper part of the door frame, "Hm, I'm listening."

"And snacks," Kris rolled his eyes. From the way Dan grinned, Kristopher could tell he'd won, so he went on walking and took out his cell phone.

"Hey," Dan called as he drove slowly by his side, "What time should I get you?"

"Five," Kristopher said crisply.

"In the morning?"

Kris rolled his eyes.

That evening at dinner, his mother asked if Kristopher had any plans. He informed her that he was taking a little trip with the guy across the street.

"Dan?" Greg asked in his gruff voice, putting his beer down, "Heh, never thought you'd choose him to do _anything_ with."

This mother shot her boyfriend a look before turning happily to her son, "Well that's wonderful, dear, where are you going?"

Kris paused; he was sure to get an earful about manipulation if he told his mother they were going to Sunbury. "Just into the city," he answered calmly, "he needs some new cleats or something, and I'd like to go to the museum." His mother said that sounded like a lovely plan. Kris excused himself from the table.

Dan yawned, and Kris could tell he was trying to keep his eyes on the road; after three cups of coffee, he still just couldn't seem to stay alert. Kristopher couldn't even understand how that was possible. At long last, the exit sign for Sunbury approached. "Woo hoo!" Dan shouted weakly, shaking his fists in triumph, "We made it! So, where to?"

Kristopher stared out the window at the familiar sights of his old town; he saw the lilacs and rolled the window down. Their sweet scent filled the car. "Turn here," he said, pointing to a side street from the town center. At the end of the block was Reynir's cream colored house with the red trim. "Stop here." Dan did so, and Kristopher got out of the car.

"What are we doing here?" Dan asked, taking the keys from the ignition.

"I need to see someone," Kris explained, leaning in the open window, "You wouldn't like him; there's a nice park back in the town square. You can go, I don't know, sleep in the grass or something." Dan drummed on the steering wheel, weighing the options. He started the car again.

"Alright, I'll come back to get you, Krissie. What time?"

"Around six would be good," Kristopher said bluntly; he really just wanted the annoying guy gone.

"Uh, alright," Dan said. He looked a little confused as to exactly what he was supposed to do all day, but pulled away from the curb anyway.

Kristopher tried to contain himself as he walked swiftly up to the door and knocked.

"Just a second," a voice called from inside. Kris knew it was Reynir's. His boyfriend opened the door and froze. "Oh my god," he breathed.

"Is Reynir home?" Kristopher asked with a small smile. The smaller boy pulled Kris close to him and kissed him feverishly.

"How'd you get here?" he asked between the kisses the proceeded to plant on all over his boyfriend's face.

"I got the idiot across the street to give me a ride," Kristopher smiled, "I missed you so much." He gave Reynir a kiss as his boyfriend pulled him inside.


End file.
